Conveyer.



A. J. THORNE.

CONVEYER. APPLICATION FILED JAN-10, 19H. RENEWED FEB. 14 1916.

1 1 76,4 1 0. Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

nn/zssfa A. J. THORNE.

CONV'EYER. APPLICATION FILED JAN-10, 1914. RENE WED FEB. 14, 19I6.

1,176,410. Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

W/TNE INVE/V T04 THE COLUMBIA PLANDERAPH ,co., WASHINGTON, D. (1.

QFFTQO CONVEYER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 21, 1916.

Application filed January 10, 1914, Serial No. 811,488. Renewed February 14, 1916. Serial No. 78,338.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ARTHUR JOHN TrioRNn, of the city of Toronto, in the county of York and Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conveyers; and I hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in that class of conveyers used lif connection with newspaper printing presses, in which the newspapers after passing through the folding mechanism are automatically conveyed to the place of delivery, and the object of my invention is to provide the conveyer with segregating means by which the folded newspapers after leaving the folding mechanism of the printing press are collected together in groups or bundles of predetermined numbers or quantities, each group or. bundle when collected being spaced from the other groups or, bundles as it automatically moves with the 0011- veyer to the place of delivery.

For an understanding of my invention reference is to be had to the following description, and to the accompanying drawings, in which i Figure 1, represents a perspective view of the delivery shaft and delivery armsof the folding mechanism of a newspaper printing press, with co-acting conveyer belts and segregating means, and, Fig. 2, is a plan view of a conveyer with segregated groups of folded newspapers thereon.

Like characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawings.

Fixed on the delivery shaft a are'the usual delivery arms I) which receive the folded newspapers from the folding mechanism and continuously deliver them to the continually traveling conveyer belts c. The conveyor belts c, which are in'spaced relation to each other, travel around a set of idlers (Z loosely mounted on the cam shaft 6 and are driven by any means suitable for that purpose. The cam shaft 6 is driven from the delivery shaft a by a suitable gearing f, the ratio of the gear wheels of the gearing f being preferably such that the delivery shaft a will make twelve and one-half revolutions to one revolution of the cam shaft 6, but the ratio of the gear wheels may be such as to vary the number of revolutions of the delivery shaft a to the cam shaft 6 to meet the requirements of the individual user. Fixed on a rock shaft 9 in parallel relation, to the cam shaft 6 are the segregating elements it, the rock shaft being provided with a crank 2' having a roller j engaged by the segregating cam is fixed on the cam shaft e, each segregating element being located, as shown in Fig. 1, in the space 6 between two adjacent conveyer belts c. The segregating elements h,as shown in the drawings, are each of a substantially L-shape with its short arm h extending upwardly from its hub h, and its long arm it normally parallel with, and in substantially the same plane as, the top of the conveyer belts 0 so that the folded papers may pass freely along the conveyer belts to the place of delivery, when the arm h is in the same plane as the conveyer belts. During the operation of the press the de livery shaft a is rotated by any suitable gearing from the main drive-shaft of the press, and the delivery arms Z) receive the folded papers from the folding mechanism and. deliver them to the conveyer belts 0.

At each predetermined number of revolutions of the delivery shaft a, which in the present case is twelve and one-half, the gearing 7 causes a revolution of the cam shaft e and segregating cam is, which engages the roller 7' and forces the crank i downward. This downward movement of the crank z rocks the shaft to raise the long arms 71, of the segregating elements above the top of the conveyer belts c, for retarding the travel of the folded newspapers lying between the free ends of the long arms 7L and the delivery mechanism until the arms h are lowered again to their normal position, this retardation creating a space between the retarded group and the previous one.

As there are four delivery arms 6 fixed on the delivery shaft a it will be understood that during each twelve and one-half revolutions of the delivery shaft fifty folded pa pers will be delivered to the conveyer belts, this taking place during each revolution of the cam shaft, thus it may be said that the papers in the present case are segregated into groups of fifty. lVhile this is taking place the conveyer belts 0 continue to travel toward the place of delivery and carry with them the folded newspapers of the previous group. When the segregating cam is clears the roller j the rock shaft 9 and the segregating elements h return automatically by gravity to their normal position, and the means the segregating elements are intermittently moved into and out of the path of the articles on the conveyer, and the papers are collected together in groups or bundles g with a' space 72 of predetermined length between each group (,1 of papers, so that the operators at the delivery end of the con veyer will be able to distinguish the groups and gather the papers of each group together as they reach the delivery position.

From the foregoing description it will be understood that in order to carry out the purpose of the present invention it will be necessary to employ a continuously traveling conveyer, segregating elements, and means for intermittently bringing the segregating elements into the path of the articleson the conveyer to retard their progress until the segregating elements have again moved out of their path, and that by means of this segregating mechanism it is possible to automatically separate the articles into groups of predetermined numbers or quantities, with a space of any predetermined width between the groups, the width of the .space depending on the timing of the cam 70.

While I have described the conveyer and segregating means as particularly applicable for gathering the papers together in predetermined groups for bundling pun poses, I do not wish to confine the invention to this particular purpose as it is possible to also use it in connection with other apparatus where a predetermined number of articles are to be gathered into segregated groups to avoid the necessity of each group being individually counted.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for i of origin to the place of delivery.

' Having thus fully described the nature of my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is V 1. In the hereinbefore described device, a continuously traveling conveyer comprising a set of conveyor belts-inspaced relation, in combination with a rock'shaft, intermittently acting segregating means mounted on the rock shaft and located in the spaces between the conveyer belts, a crank for said rock shaft and a cam actuating said crank to raise said segregating means into the path of the articles on the traveling conveyer whereby they will be automatically separated into groups of predetermined numbers or quantities. Y

2. In the hereinbefore described device,

continuously traveling conveyer comprising a set of conveyer belts in spaced relation, in combination with a rock shaft, intermit tently acting segregating means mounted on the rock shaft and located in the spaces between the conveyer belts, a crank for said rock shaft and a cam actuating said crank to raise said segregating means into the path of the' articles on the traveling conveyer whereby they, will be automatically separated into groups of. predetermined numbers or quantities, said segregating means and rock shaft, when vthe crank is disengaged by said cam, returning automatically to-their normal position.

Toronto, December 10th, 1913.

ARTHUR JOHN THORNE. Signed in the presence of OHAs. H. RICHES, C. W. ADAMS.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

